January 12, 2012
Dear Friends of the Food Bank,
Here at Mt. Si Food Bank we have worked hard to address the hunger needs of residents in our Snoqualmie Valley. For most businesses a year of growth would bring good news, however, for the food bank that means more of our neighbors are facing food insecurity.
In 2011 we experienced a 7% increase over 2010 for households needing our service. Our senior population grew by 14% and we served approximately 300 children each week. Overall, we provided food to 46,519 individuals. We continue to focus on providing the most healthy and nutritious food options. We’re proud to have distributed approximately 780,000 pounds of food that included fresh dairy and produce.
As the needs of the food bank continue to grow we have reached out to our community and encouraged participation in several ways. We asked you to partner with us and plant an extra row in your garden or bring in your extra harvest. Our community responded and some went beyond our expectations and actually planted entire gardens to supplement the food bank. We look forward to even more participation from gardeners in 2012.
A great accomplishment we achieved this year was to hold our first annual fundraising event: The Night on A Dark Trail. This one night event brought together over hundred volunteers from the community and we raised over $2,000.00 on a stormy October evening. We are actively planning an even greater event for 2012 and hope that you will support us.
In June we started a summer assistance program called Summer Cupboard for our families that have children enrolled in the free or reduced meal program with the Snoqualmie Valley School District. These families received breakfast and lunch items during the summer months in addition to their weekly groceries. We asked the community to donate kid friendly foods during this time and we look forward to offering this program for 2012.
Throughout the year we provided workshops and demonstrations for our clients such as learning how to make your own laundry soap for a fraction of the cost, planting vegetable container gardens and craft activities for our young neighbors. These are all facilitated by community members and we welcome your ideas for 2012. In addition, we continue to bring outside resources to the food bank such as the Department of Social and Health Services, King County Public Health Department, Worksource and a nutrition specialist to provide opportunities for our neighbors to gain other forms of assistance.
We are grateful that our community is supportive and recognizes the importance of the service that we provide. In February of 2011 we were recognized as the #1 Non-Profit in the Snoqualmie Valley by the Snoqualmie Valley Records People Choice Award. In December, we were recognized as the Community Partner of the Year from Encompass.
The food bank is deeply thankful for the many individuals, groups, businesses, schools and organizations that reached out to us with donations of food, money and time. We could not accomplish all that we do without your financial support and especially the commitment from our volunteers who accumulated 12,667 hours of service in 2011.
“In every community there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it.”
– Marianne Williamson
Best wishes to you and yours for 2012.
Sincerely,
Heidi Dukich
Executive Director
